The present invention relates to novel bullet constructions, and more specifically to a bullet weakened by a plurality of parting lines which promote a pronounced splitting action and subsequent separation of the bullet into individual segments upon impact with and entry into a target.
The prior art contains numerous examples of bullets which are designed to spread or expand upon impact. Such bullets include those known as mushrooming bullets, normally having a soft point of exposed lead or a hollow area in the tip. Some bullets of this type have weakened jackets to facilitate expansion, such as those of U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,114,356, 1,715,788, 2,045,964, 3,143,966, 3,157,137, 4,193,348 and 4,655,140. Further examples of expanding bullets having variously configured cavities in the tip or nose which function effectively with or without a jacket are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,881,421 and 4,550,662 of the present inventor. Other examples of expanding bullets such as those found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,135,357, 1,833,645, 2,661,694 and 3,991,684 are composite in nature, utilizing various "spreader" devices located in their tips which are physically driven back into the core of the bullet during impact, causing expansion. The bullets of U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,135,357 and 1,833,645 are apparently designed to expand and remain in singular form after impact, whereas the bullets disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,661,694 and 3,991,684 are designed to expand and thereafter fragment or otherwise separate into pieces.
Mushrooming and other expanding bullets are intended to provide improved "stopping action" as compared to solid, non-expanding bullets. Although the bullet designs of the aforementioned patents exhibit various types of expanding action, they are, with the exception of U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,661,694 and 3,991,684, intended to remain in monoblock form after impact with the target; that is, the bullet material does not separate into two or more individual pieces.
Another approach to improving bullet performance can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,836,110 and 4,882,822 of the present inventor, wherein a portion of the bullet body, or in the case of a jacketed bullet, the bullet core is divided longitudinally and radially into a plurality of sections by parting lines. Upon impacting a fluidic target, the bullet, being internally weakened, separates into a plurality of individual parts which travel in different directions.
Somewhat similar designs exist which utilize various, slots, slits, cuts, passages, spaces and the like within the bullet core, or in the case of an unjacketed bullet, within the bullet body itself. Some of these designs, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 3,138,102, which is actually a shotgun slug, and U.k. Complete Specification No. 4,426 and U.K. Provisional Specification No. 14,717 were designed to maintain monoblock characteristics during flight, while providing enhanced expansion characteristics upon impacting a fluidic target. The hollow point shotgun slug of U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,102 is designed to initiate a controlled break-up during penetration of a target. Another early U.S. Pat. No. 219,840, while pertaining solely to the fabrication method employed in making the body of a bullet, does show the bullet produced from such manufacture.
Still others, such as those found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 90,732 and 3,097,603 are so weakly constructed that they can fly to pieces during flight, giving the effect of a shotgun blast of multiple fragments.